


Bending Adamantine

by taichara



Category: Azure Striker Gunvolt
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-25
Updated: 2014-11-25
Packaged: 2018-02-27 00:20:21
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 407
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2671886
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/taichara/pseuds/taichara
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Asimov knew his decision to drive Gunvolt from QUILL would be unpopular, but he had his reasons.  He also has a few plans for making the break less broken.</p>
<p>Of course, he'd never admit that.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Bending Adamantine

**Author's Note:**

> _prompt: any, any, a broken family unit_

_’I can’t believe you did that, Asimov! What the hell is wrong with you?’_

Hours past the mission’s completion – such as it was – and he didn’t need telepathy to still hear Moniqa’s anger ringing in his head. She’d made her displeasure abundantly clear before the team had even reconvened at base, filling the comm channel with biting commentary.

_’They’re just kids, what do you think they’re going to do out there on their own? And don’t give me some kind of line about Gunvolt’s maturity or I swear …’_

Slowly, methodically, he dismantled his heavy rifle; cleaned the components, placed them carefully into storage. In the dim light of the storage corridor (really should get that circuit repaired), his icy hair luminesced slightly with the power of his own septima, a fracture in his control that he couldn’t bother to squelch.

Did she think he’d made that decision lightly? That it was some fit of pique? And then there was Zeno, asking if he’d driven the two of them off because the girl was a Sumeragi experiment –

_As if I would care about something that petty._

_It’s easy to forget I carried Gunvolt from the bowels of a Sumeragi lab, isn’t it._  
 _Well, time does fly, I suppose._

Maintenance complete, he turned and stared back up the hall where the brighter lights of the common room beckoned. Distantly he could hear Moniqa; even without distinct words, the turmoil in her voice was plain. And he sighed.

_I didn’t want to do this, you realize._

He’d never say the words. He hoped they’d sense them.

_He can protect himself. He can protect the girl. And I – I need to protect the greater whole. I can not sacrifice an entire cell for one individual, no matter who that might be._

_I’ll find time for regret later. There’s still work to be done._

Was it freedom, to let someone go by throwing them away from you? 

Well, there were suggestions to be dropped in certain ears. Gunvolt may be cut loose, but he was not going to be cut off – even if he wasn’t aware of it. It was time to pull a few strings and make a few arrangements while the youngsters were trying to shake off their tail.

_Perhaps I’ll let Moniqa think she badgered me into it. It’ll help her calm down._

The faintest of smiles was still lingering on his face when he stepped into the commons.


End file.
